Money contributor

Please tell me you could find $1000 cash should you need it for an emergency. Because apparently one in five Aussies could not. And one in three lives pay packet to pay packet.

The stats, courtesy of BT, speak of an incredibly dangerous situation where an unexpected tax bill, sinking fund payment or medical expense could defeat you - and probably plunge you (further) into debt.

Here are six ways you could fix it - immediately, painlessly - by reclaiming cash you didn't know you had.

SUPER

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There's a whopping $17 billion in ''lost'' super and the average balance is almost $5000, says regulator ASIC. There's an extra incentive to sort this one out - at the end of May a potential 1 million such accounts will be transferred to the tax office. An account is classified as lost where the provider has fallen out of touch with you, usually due to an address or job change (remember you collect an account each time). Previously it also had to have been five years since contributions stopped, but now that's just one. The tax office already holds accounts with balances of less than $200, but will shortly take over those with up to $2000. That means you'll lose any future growth on these funds (the government is snaffling that) and any insurance arrangements. You'll get only interest at the inflation rate.

Search for SuperSeeker on ato.gov.au. Enter your name (old ones too), birthdate and tax file number to retrieve lost accounts. This site will let you transfer some to your fund of choice; for others, you'll need to contact the provider direct.

SHARES

More than 150,000 people are the unknowing owners of $1 billion in shares, says the Australian Shareholders' Association. This is courtesy of the raft of demutualisations in the past few decades - think AMP, AXA, NRMA and IAG. If you were an account or policyholder, you will have received shares.

Go to ASIC's central register of lost money, moneysmart.gov.au, to check for certain demutualisations. Then contact share registry services linkmarketservices.com.au. To reclaim your portion of the $140 million in related dividends, call your relevant office of state revenue.

DEPOSITS, INSURANCE AND INHERITANCES

Could you have lost track of savings or forgotten a term insurance policy? Here, there's $700 million without a home; ASIC's moneysmart.gov.au will again tell you if some is yours. And even if you don't have a great aunt who lost track of you before popping her clogs, a distant relative dying without a will could see you cash in. See your local Public Trustee about this.

COMMISSIONS

Finally, a surprising array of brokers and advisers may be collecting hidden fees on your financial products - super, insurances, investments and mortgages generate $2 billion each year. You can now get your share back through commission rebate services that retain only a bit for their trouble. The best value include Refund Easy and Commission Refunders.

And (hopefully) there's your instant emergency fund.

Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon is editor-at-large of Smart Investor magazine. Follow her on Twitter @NicolePedMcK